Thyroiditis

That's what I have.  Something (a virus or antibodies that I am making) is attacking my thyroid and damaging it, causing it to swell and be overactive.  They did another blood test today to check for antibodies, which is what usually causes this.  The viral kind is rare, apparently.  I now take antithyroid drugs three times a day to reduce the amount of hormone released by my freaky thyroid.  I have to go in monthly for blood tests to check the amount of thyroid hormone being released to see if it is too high or too low and adjust my meds accordingly.  There is a chance that this will resolve on its own in 12-18 months (uggghhhh), but if they can't get my thyroid to behave and get the inflammation to go down (so I can swallow, talk, etc without feeling it) then we start talking about nuking it.  Hmmmmmm.....We'll see about that.

Don't....Wake....Up.....

I had a very nice dream this morning.  You know the kind that is so real that you don't know it's a dream until a few minutes after you wake up, and then you want to go back to sleep immediately to try to get back into the dream?  That is what I had this morning.  I dreamt that my life was pretty much the way it is now, except that I was 39 weeks pregnant with a boy.  The pregnancy was totally complication free and we were just waiting for him to be born.  It was wonderful, and I was sort of depressed when I realized it was just a dream.  Oh well.  Hopefully we will get a placement soon so that my subconscious (and fully conscious mind) will stop sending me baby messages.

Tests are Done...

...At least they are unless the doctor decides to order more.  So far, I have a nodule on the left lobe of my thyroid and it showed up cold on the thyroid uptake test (meaning that it wouldn't absorb the iodine), but the rest of my thyroid wasn't really "lighting up" either.  I'm just ready for them to figure out what to do about it.  I feel like I have a huge lump in my throat all the time now.  Yes, it is getting worse.  It is hard to swallow and I can feel it pushing on my left vocal chords.  That is more than annoying.  I hope we get an answer soon.

29 is the new 85

I was telling the twins that we would go to Wendy's for lunch today and that since we were going there they would get a little ice cream with their lunch.  Cierra then said that they would get a little ice cream because they were little kids.  And....here it comes....that I would get a BIG ice cream because I'm a big Mommy and because I'm oooooooooold.  I had to giggle.

He Has it All Figured Out.....

Gavin told me today that when he gets big ("As big as Mommy and Daddy") he is going to have 5 machines - A breakfast machine, a snack machine, a lunch machine, a dinner machine, and a treat machine.  Apparently these machines will be capable of getting him all of his food for the day.  I kind of wish I had those machines now for him.  Sometimes I just can't fill his little body up with food!  But, hey, he's got it all figured out!

Cierra's Dancing Feet

We decided to make cookies this afternoon (because the twins ate ALL of the ones we made on Saturday this morning, but that is a different story) and as I was mixing the dough we were listening to my playlist on the computer.  I was singing along with the song that was playing and Cierra was watching me.  All of the sudden Cierra started to dance and said, "Mommy!  You are making my feet move!"  I may not be good enough for American Idol, but Cierra likes my singing.

Such a Twilight Geek

Yes, I'm talking about myself.  It's sort of embarrassing, but I am extremely excited about being able to buy the blu-ray of Twilight on Saturday.  When I say excited, I actually mean bordering on giddy.  I get this funny little feeling inside whenever I think about it, and can't stop smiling.  I'm blaming it on the fact that they upped my OCD meds and put me on beta blockers for the thyroid thing this last week.  Yep, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

BTW - Team Edward all the way!!!!  And Jasper's pretty cool, too.  ("The guy who looks like he's in pain all the time" - Hilarious!)  Remember - It's the meds talking.

Dx

So ever since I got so sick in January/February I feel like I just want to sleep all the time.  It had gone on long enough that I decided to go to the doctor to see if I was anemic or something.  I had a bunch of blood tests and it's not anemia.  I have Hyperthyroidism, aka my thyroid is freaking out and releasing too much thyroid hormone.  This means that everything in my body is running faster and harder than it needs to.  I could live with my metabolism being extra high (bring on the m&m's!), but, I can do without the risk of heart failure, so we're going to figure out what is causing the freak-out and get it fixed.  I'll have an ultrasound of my thyroid sometime next week that will tell the doctor if I have nodules on my thyroid that are causing this and how big they are if they are there, then we will decide on a course of action.  We will do one of three things:

1 - Anti-thyroid meds to slow down the release of the hormone 

2- Nuke my thyroid with radioactive iodine that would target only the thyroid tissue and destroy a bunch of it 

3- Surgical removal of part or all of my thyroid 

It will be interesting to see what the doctor recommends after all of the tests are done.  I have reservations about the second two treatments, but I'll do what is best.  Especially if doing one of those will help me swallow easier.  I always assumed it was scar tissue from my Acid Reflux that was making it hard to swallow, but it might be my freaky thyroid.  I'll keep you posted.

My "Grown Up" Ashley

Ashley was being silly and scribbling all over a paper with a marker.  She showed it to me and said that was how she drew in pre-school.  Then she sighed and wistfully said, "I was so young!"   I just had to laugh.  She is so cute!

Funny Gavin

Gavin gave me a nice smile on Friday morning.  Gavin, Cierra and I were out and about doing our weekly food shopping, and on our way to the store Cierra said that we needed to get a baby (which sort of surprised me because she has been the one least interested in getting a new sibling).  I said to her that, yes, hopefully we will get a baby someday, to which Gavin replied, "Yeah....or a PUPPY!"  I just had to laugh.